After layoffs in January, Gannett and the USA Today Network — which has more than 100 local newspapers — worked to keep investigative reporting and editor jobs. In the last year, USA Today’s national investigative team grew from eight to 24 members.
“We can’t be all things to all people,” said Beryl Love, executive editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, who returned to his hometown and paper a little more than a year ago from USA Today. “But we need to have impact in our community, and that’s a deliberate move by the company.”
This leads to a collaborative approach, where smaller newsrooms have access to a national network. The process worked in the opposite direction in Cincinnati with an investigation into a well-known sex trafficking ring in a nearby town. That town isn’t in the Enquirer’s primary coverage area, Love said, and the newsroom didn’t have experience going after someone who hadn’t yet been indicted or charged, so the editors of USA Today’s national investigative team guided the newsroom through the process, leading to a story with both local and national interest.
To read more, visit Poynter.
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